Perhaps it is that spiritual appeal of the park that not only draws hiking, climbing and backpacking recreationists but inspires artists and photographers to pause, take notice and go to work.

This year, as part of the park's ongoing centennial celebrations, tourists could watch the brilliant colors of the park take shape on the canvases of 21 artists, who painted for four days from dawn to dusk. For a recent exhibit in honor of the centennial, more than 500 pieces of work were submitted for display, with 70 winnowed for final selection.

Just as man can't resist the often dangerous temptation to conquer Zion's cliffs or the waters of the Narrows, artists can't resist the urge to try to portray, duplicate or interpret its natural wonders.

It was those efforts that brought Florida residents Dominick and Gale Isola to Zion National Park last week for the first time.

Gale Isola said she saw the photographs and the pictures, which convinced her to make Zion the first national park she and her husband have visited.

"Beautiful, beautiful pictures, but you really have to be here to believe it," she said. "It's awesome. Breathtaking. Surreal. Like a fantasy land. I don't think there are words that describe it well enough."

The Isolas are taking their own inspiration from Zion and say it is now on their "bucket list" to visit as many national parks as they can.

"Everything about this park is exciting and beautiful," he said.

The Isolas had just finished a trail ride in the park led by multiple guides, including wrangler Mark Stanley, who has conducted similar equine adventures for 42 years all around the country.

This is his first season at the park, which he describes as "phenomenal — and I've been all over the country — Montana, Colorado, Idaho, Washington. It's incredible here. I love it."

A tourist from Manhattan who was in Utah for the first time said his experience at the park was "spectacular … everything is so beautiful. Can you find anyone that wouldn't like this, who wouldn't be impressed?"

But the very thing that drew people to the park — its solitude and majestic, scenic wonders — had begun to ruin the experience and environment of the park, as its popularity had skyrocketed over the last several decades.

Limited parking and the narrow constraints of Zion's scenic drive combined to create a 12-mile-long traffic jam. The Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel, built in the 1920s, can't accommodate many of today's larger recreational vehicles or heavy truck traffic.